David Moyes hopes referee Andre Marriner will not be the deciding factor in Sunday's Merseyside derby.

The Everton boss was furious after last season's defeat by Liverpool at Goodison Park when Jack Rodwell was sent off early on for a tackle on Luis Suarez, a decision that was later rescinded. Everton have already been dealt a blow with the absence of key midfielder Steven Pienaar, who was shown a red card in last weekend's 1-1 draw at QPR and serves a one-match ban.

The Scot said: "We've got to be careful. People are going to turn away from football if they continue to go to watch people who throw themselves on the ground when they're not touched."

He added: "I think it's important you do get someone who's strong enough to identify what are the right challenges and the wrong ones, and in last year's game we got really badly done by a terrible refereeing decision."

The loss of Pienaar could be alleviated by the return of midfielder Marouane Fellaini, who missed last weekend's game after picking up a knee injury.

The Belgian has returned to light training, while long-serving full-back Tony Hibbert could also feature after more than a month out with a calf injury.

Moyes said of Fellaini: "He's doing a bit of light training so we'll see how he is. He's not a definite but I think he's got a good chance. Tony Hibbert's the same. We're not 100% sure but we'll monitor him."

Moyes has won only four matches against Liverpool since taking charge at Goodison Park a decade ago, and last season the Toffees lost both league matches to their rivals and an FA Cup semi-final.

Despite that, they finished above them in the Premier League, and Everton go into Sunday's clash six points and eight places above Brendan Rodgers' side. Moyes remains focused on the bigger picture, but he is hoping the Toffees can continue the form that has seen them lose only one of their opening eight league matches.

He said: "We didn't beat Liverpool last year and we finished above them in the league so it's a really important three points but it might not make a big difference to the league position come the end of the season."